


Blank Slate

by HowAboutThatSnapback, Jormus



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill is a bad influence, Gen, Magic, OC as main character, Post-Canon, mindscape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:37:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowAboutThatSnapback/pseuds/HowAboutThatSnapback, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jormus/pseuds/Jormus
Summary: The townsfolk of Gravity Falls do not talk about Weirdmaggedon, so when a young man from out of town comes he has no idea what he’s getting into when he finds a stone statue in the middle of the woods. He shakes hands with the statue and ends up with Bill Cipher in his mind and a strange man named “Stan” in his dreams. He will have to figure out who he should trust.





	Blank Slate

The Oregon forest was certainly as beautiful as Blake had expected. Dark green pine trees towered above him like the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral. Lush shrubs dotted the forest floor and occasionally he would run into a small clear brook. It was a paradise really, but there was one problem: he was now hopelessly lost.

Everything looked alike. He had heard that one could tell which way was north by the side of the trees moss grew on, but whoever had said that clearly had never seen the blanketing green of this place.

_ Oh, boy, you did it again, Blank, _ he thought while trying to remember which way he came from.

No matter how hard he stared at the woods they would not produce a path he could follow.

_ Daydreaming is going to be the death of me. _

Well he had nothing. He walked forward a few steps more and caught sight of something gray through the trees. He quickened his pace and wove his way toward it.

Strange...  it appeared to be some sort of a statue. One wouldn’t expect a triangle- a perfectly shaped one to boot- to be in the untouched forests of Gravity Falls. He paused for a second while it was still some distance away.

Despite something inside of him willing him to turn back and continue to try to find his way home, he made his way forward to investigate.

_ “Curiosity killed the cat.” _ He ignored the old saying that surfaced in his mind despite how many times this has been proven right.

Five more steps and he was standing right in front of it.

Blake squated down to get a better look. The statue was an odd thing, half buried in the ground. It was a triangle with a top hat and a single eye in the center. Jutting outward into the light filtering through the treetops was a single outstretched hand, as if to shake on a deal.

He was almost tempted to reach out and take it’s hand just to see what it felt like. His hand began to move on it’s own and his fingers were mere inches away before the loud, annoying ringing of his cellular device broke whatever trance he was in.

He pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID and saw the name  _ Timothy _ on the screen. He mentally prepared himself- as much as he loved his brother, sometimes it was a mental strain to talk to him.

“Hello?” Blake said as he pressed the phone to his ear.

_ “Hey, Blake, how’s it goin’?” _

“Um… pretty good. This place is gorgeous.”  _ And a bit odd with this thing here… _

Now that he thought about it... why was a statue in the middle of the forest? He shrugged the thought off and focused on the phone call.

_ “Where are you now?”  _ His brother asked.

Oh boy, if Tim knew he was lost again, he would never hear the end of it.

“I’m almost in town?” 

_ Way to sound so sure of yourself,  _ Blake thought irritably.

_ There’s no way he’s gonna let it drop now. _

_ “You’re lost again, aren’t you?” _ Timothy asked with an exasperated sigh- he expected this of course.

“No?” Blake replied, his eyes glancing around the unfamiliar environment while trying to find a way to argue his state of being. “I mean,  _ technically _ I’m gonna be lost for a while since I’m new to this place.”

_ “But  _ technically _ you’re lost in a place where no one can help you find your way back, aren’t you?” _

_ I hate when he does that, _ Blake thought with a small scowl.

_ “Don’t make that face.” _

“What face?” Blake demanded with still scowling.

_ “That scowl-y face. The one you make when you’re losing an argument,” _ Timothy replies.

Sometimes his brother knows him a bit  _ too _ well.

“I’ll find my way there,” he said trying not to show his annoyance. “After all I need to learn to stop burdening others with my actions.”

A hint of bitterness snuck into his voice with the last words.

He could hear his brother’s sigh over the phone. 

_ “When’re you gonna learn, lil’ brother?... sometimes in order to stand on your own, you gotta learn to rely on others.” _

“I’ve been relying on people for a long time,” Blake sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes while trying not to let his mind go that dark path- the one that led him to this town in the first place. Sometimes he wondered if they had the same mother. It was always a little weird to watch Tim and her interact. They seemed happy and loving. A far cry from the angry high pitched lectures he always got. “Listen, Tim, I gotta go.”

_ “Alright. Try not to get lost too much. Don’t want you ending up on the news,” _ Timothy replied with a slightly worried tone.

_ “Love you.”  _ A warm smile coloured his voice.

“Love you, too,” Blake replied with a small roll of his eyes and the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Timothy would always say that because he insisted that this is how a conversation is supposed to end between family because they may never hear each other’s voices again. Blake had been embarrassed at first- he’d been a sophmore in high school when his brother had started the habit, and he’d been around his friends- but now it was just something that he did out of habit.

He slid the phone back into his pocket, still smiling. 

_ Now how to get to town… _

He heard a yell accompanied by a loud crashing noise and the sound of branches splintering.

“ _ TIMBER!” _

Blake immediately looked around for whatever was falling and noticed a tree coming his direction. He dove out of the way so that he wouldn’t be crushed. After pushing himself up from the dirt, he brushed himself off and looked for the source of the yell.

“Hey, dude! You okay?” A redheaded female- about the age of eighteen or nineteen- asked while walking away from her group of flannel clad redheaded males toward him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Blake replies as he straightened himself out. “Well… kinda… I’m a bit lost.”

“So you’re new in town?”

She stared at him for a moment and then snapped her fingers.

“You must be the Blake guy I heard of moving into the apartment complex.”

Blake blinked in surprise.

“Yeah… How did you know that?”

She laughed, “You just moved into a small town, everybody knows everything about everyone.”

Blake blushes in embarrassment- he should’ve known that since he’s from a small town. “Oh, right… so- uh- speaking of  _ town _ , do you know which way that would be?”

“Yeah. You just wanna walk  _ straaaight _ down that way,” she replies while pointing in the direction that he should go. “You’ll see a place called the Mystery Shack with the ‘S’ off the roof. From there you can find the road to town.”

“Thanks…” he trails off when he realizes that he doesn’t know her name.

“Wendy,” she informs and holds out her hand for him to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Wendy, I’m Blake Franklin,” he replies while shaking her hand. “Thanks again for the directions.”

“No problem,” she replies.

“Wendy, Dad’s stuck again!” A young man’s voice calls.

She rolls her eyes. “I guess that’s my cue to go. Good luck finding your way back.”

“Thanks. Good luck with your dad,” he replies awkwardly.

“Thanks, I’ll need it,” she replies and then walks off.

Blake started in the direction he was told to go and made himself concentrate on walking in a straight line.

It was difficult to keep his focus so that he wouldn’t end up lost  _ again _ , but after twenty minutes he got to a clearing and saw the building that Wendy had talked about.

The “Mystery Shack” was a rather garish looking sort of place. It was a worn old building. Parts of it looked like they could crumble at any moment and parts looked like the had just been redone recently. The “S” from the sign was laying on the ground, so it actually read “Mystery Hack”. Strange knickknacks were placed all over the front porch.

Blake regarded it skeptically for a moment before shrugging and going forward. If he was going to get to town before nightfall he was going to need directions… And maybe a lift.

_ Well, here goes nothing, _ He thought with a deep breath and then made his way to the entrance.

He heard talking behind the door- not like a large crowd, but between two people. One voice was low and like a mumble, he couldn’t understand it no matter how he tried to make out the words, and the other was higher pitch- a woman- and it was easier to make out her words because she enunciated well enough to be understood. It felt wrong to just barge in there without invitation or any forewarning so he knocked on the door and backed up.

There was silence for a while and then heavy footsteps as they made their way toward the door. The door burst open nearly hitting him in the face and he took a step back in surprise.

“Woops, sorry about that dude!”

The man who emerged from the stack was a good head and shoulders taller than him. He was rather fat and dressed in a nice black suit with a red bolo-tie and an odd red fez. He had a cheerful grin on his face as he offered Blake a handshake, which he took.

“Nice too meet you, I’m Soos, but you can call me Mr. Mystery.”

He made a little bow.

“You’re a little early for the next tour.”

“Er, tour?” Blake blinked in confusion.

“Yeah… that’s what you came for- right? The tour of the Mystery Shack,” Soos asks, though he frowns a little with thought as he continues to get a confused and flat out  _ lost _ look from the young man in front of him. 

“Hello, there,” it was the woman he had heard earlier.

She emerged from behind Soos with a friendly smile.

“What brings you to the Mystery Shack, then? My name’s Melody by the way.”

“Oh-uh- nice to meet you, Melody,” Blake stutters.  _ God _ he’s awkward. “I’m- er- actually looking to- uh-  _ obtain _ a ride back to town. I- uh- I got lost and then this redheaded girl- Wendy- told me to come here.”

“Oh, Wendy! She used to work here you know,” Soos said with a smile.

“We don’t have any tours for another hour and a half or so. That’d be plenty of time to get you into town.”

Blake breathed out a breath of relief he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding and he felt himself grin with gratefulness. “That’d be  _ great _ . Thank you.”

“It’s no problem, dude,” Soos assured while waving it off. 

“Do you know where you’re staying?” Melody asked.

“In the apartment complex- I’m- uh- I’m guessing there’s only one?”

“You guess right,” Soos replied with a nod- he seems more like a native than his… wiiiife? did.

Blake’s eyes immediately flickered down to their left hands and he noticed wedding bands. Married. To each other- he’s sure.

“It’s a small place,” she said with a shrug.

“Most folks either live above their businesses or out in the woods.”

Soos fished a pair of keys out of his pocket and twirled them around in his his fingers.

“Soooo, is that all you have?” He asked glancing at the hiking pack on Blake’s back.

“Yeah,” Blake said, suddenly feeling very self conscious again. “I- um- figured it would be good to not travel with too much.”

Soos nodded with contemplative eyes- wait weren’t they gray earlier? Now they’re green- before he said with a broad grin, “Sounds smart, dude. C’mon, we can talk more in the truck.”

“Drive safe,” Melody said as Soos stooped down to kiss her cheek.

“I will,” he promised with a smile.

Blake looked away at their kiss, feeling this tender moment needed to be private and this was the best he could do. That or he just doesn’t do well with romantic moments in front of him- he’s still trying to figure that one out.

Melody reached forward and flipped Soos’ eye patch up playfully.

“Don’t forget to take your eyepatch off. You nearly ran into a stop sign the last time you drove with it on.”

Wait, what?

“Oh right,” Soos said removing it, with a laugh. 

“Don’t want to to do that again.”

He shoved it into his pocket.

“This way, dude.”

Blake was a bit uneasy after the brief conversation between Melody and Soos, but he really didn’t have ny other choice if he wanted to get to the apartment before dark.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Melody smiling at him.

“Don’t worry about it, he usually drives fine. He can just be a little absent-minded sometimes.”

“Okay…”

“Have fun and welcome to town,” she said, giving his shoulder a little pat, then turning away to head back to the porch.

“Thanks. You, too,” he said and then immediately shut his mouth and stared wide-eyed at her when he realizes the mistake.

Melody laughed it off and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

He smiled a little to himself as he climbed into the passenger seat of Soos’ pickup truck.

“So what’s the Mystery Shack?” He asked feeling the need to say something.

“That is the real mystery,” Soos responded.

Blake stared in confusion as the man actually seems to be thinking about it seriously.

“Don’t you work there?”

“Oh yeah, dude. I’m the manager and the all new Mr. Mystery.”

Soos puffed his chest out a little.

“It was my dream ever since I was a child.”

“Really?” Blake asked with interest.

“Yeah. The original Mr. Mystery’s out at sea with his brother,” Soos replied. “Last day of summer a few years back, he gave the title and this place to me.”

“Cool. My brother works out at sea- maybe they’ll ran into each other,” Blake said after hearing the similarities.

Soos shrugged. “You never know, it’s a small world, afterall.”

Blake- despite not trying to- ended up slipping off into his mind and watching the greenery of the forest go by as Soos drove him back to town.

The odd statue surfaced in his thoughts and he found himself wondering again why it was out there in the woods. Who had put it there? What did it mean? Should he ask Soos about it? Or did he even know? With his sense of direction, or lack thereof, he doubted he would be seeing it again.

Some part of him realized that he had zoned out, but another part of him didn’t really care all that much that he had even if it might be considered rude.

He was yanked out of his contemplation by Soos’ voice.

“We’re here, dude!”

He realized with a start that they had stopped moving and the engine was off. How long had he zoned out for?

“Oh- uh- thanks,” Blake replied and then started rifling through his bag. “Here, let me pay you for gas.”

“No need, dude,” Soos said. “I just wanted to help.”

Blake stared at Soos for a long moment that felt almost like an eternity- how could this man do something for nothing? Blake had never known anyone to do that. In his own family even Timothy- one of the most selfless- often required compensation for his work. To help someone just for the sake of doing good just didn’t make sense.

“Are you sure? I’ve got a ten dollar bill in here somewhere,” Blake insisted- he didn’t feel right not giving this man something.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Soos replied.

He glanced at Blake’s bag.

“So I guess you don’t need help moving in. Well if you need anything or just want to hang out, you should totally call me. Pretty much anyone in town can give you my number.”

He gave Blake a friendly slap on the back.

Blake him gave a small smile- it seemed like it’d be impossible not to smile around this man- and nodded. “I will… thanks… er… I’ll see you around, I guess.”

“Sure thing. Bye, Blake”

Soos hopped back into his truck and sped off waving a hand out the window. Blake watched until he disappeared from sight and then turned around to face the apartment building with a sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> Jormus: "Snapback and I were writing this quite sometime back on tumblr, so we figured it was time to put it up here.  
> We hope you all enjoy the adventures of Blake in Gravity Falls."


End file.
